British diving prodigy Tom Daley has set his sights firmly on London Olympic gold in 2012 without ruling out the chance of winning a medal in Beijing this year.

The 13-year-old Plymouth schoolboy is set to become his country’s youngest male Olympian in August and was still bursting with excitement on Monday, a day after qualifying with seventh place in the men's 10-metre platform at the Diving World Cup.

“I’m absolutely over the moon,” he told Reuters in an interview outside the Water Cube, his smile exposing the braces on his teeth.

“Going to an Olympic Games is a dream come true. I didn’t think I was going to make an Olympics this year... let alone going as the youngest male Olympian. It's making history and not a lot of 13-year-olds do that.”

Daley will beat the record of his fellow diver Fred Hodges, who was 15 years and 94 days old when he competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, in Beijing.

He celebrated his triumph with a medal at TGI Fridays with his father Robert and credits his family as well as his own commitment for his success.

“I’ve got lots of support from my family,” he said. “I’ve also had to sacrifice a lot of time with my friends. I’ve had to stay determined and work hard at my sport.

“But it’s all been worth it now, I know why I do it.”

He’s had to show some nerve too, needing a good score on his final dive on Sunday to clinch his qualification for Beijing.

“It was make or break time,” he said. “I was so nervous with that dive and to think that I got four 10s on it, it’s just absolutely phenomenal.

“I’m just going to go out there and have some fun, get some Olympic experience and by the time 2012 comes along I should know what it’s all about and maybe I’ll be able to get the gold medal.”

He is prepared to be surprised again, though, when he returns to the Water Cube in August.

‘May happen in Beijing’

“Maybe it can happen in the (Beijing) Olympics,” he said. “The luck worked in our favour here and it might work in the Olympics.”

Daley puts in about half the time most of his rivals dedicate to training so he can find time for his school work.

“It’s not ideal for me but I still have to do school so I have something to fall back on if I don’t make it as a diver,” he said.

“At school, my best mates are very supportive, but you do get the odd person who takes the mickey.

“You’ve got to deal with that and it’s something that I’ve had to put up with since I started diving.”

That came when he was eight on a visit to a public swimming pool with his father. He had lessons, entered a few competitions and was talent spotted.

Getting addicted

“I got addicted to it," he said, adding that it had taken him a while to get over his fear of climbing up to the 10-metre board.

“It’s something I've had to overcome,” he said. “I’m still scared when I go up there to learn new dives but the more you do it the better it gets.”

Despite his achievement, Daley will not even be the youngest Olympian from his home city as Plymouth swimmer Sharron Davies was still 13 when she competed at the 1976 Montreal Games.

Davies went on to enjoy a career in television and Daley, who will be 14 in May, is certainly not perturbed by all the attention he is receiving.

“It’s a good laugh,” he said. “I enjoy going places and having cameras shoved up my nose.”